It's Not Just New York: The New Era of Progressive Urban Politics

Staging imaginary competitions between cities and their elected leaders certainly makes for catchy headlines: “Step Aside, New York City. Los Angeles's Populism Is for Real” asserts the title of Nancy L. Cohen’s recent piece in The New Republic. “Later this month,” Cohen explains, “two [Los Angeles] City Council members will introduce a motion to raise the minimum wage to a nation-leading $15.37 an hour for hotel workers—nearly double the California minimum wage of $8.” Very welcome—but that’s just hotel workers. In Seattle, meanwhile, Mayor Ed Murray is vowing to start paying all municipal employees at least $15 an hour, and told Salon’s Josh Eidelson that “I think that we are gonna get to $15” for all of Seattle’s private sector workers as well.

But New York will not be left in the dust. While Mayor de Blasio’s highest profile salvo against inequality is a plan to raise taxes on wealthy households in order to fund universal pre-school as well as free after-school programs for middle school students, that proposal faces barriers in the form of tax-averse Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Republican-dominated State Senate. Luckily, de Blasio’s agenda is loaded with plans he can implement without Albany’s approval. Mayor de Blasio has already signaled his eagerness to expand New York’s paid sick days law to 300,000 more working people and expand the city’s living wage law to cover employees that work at businesses renting space in city-subsidized developments.

At the same time, the progressive turn was far from inevitable. Let’s not forget that just a few months ago, the headlines were dominated by a very different kind of competition between cities: Philadelphia closed 23 schools, displaced 10,000 students, and laid off 3,700 teachers and other school personnel, according to a tally in Labor Notes. Not to be outdone, Chicago closed 47 schools, displaced 12,700 students who were forced to walk through dangerous neighborhoods, and laid off 2,000 education workers. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s emphasis on high-stakes testing and school closures is one of the major policies Mayor de Blasio vows to change.

Whatever happens in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, it looks unlikely that Chicago’s mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter will regard themselves any time soon as part of a competition to lift low-wage workers and fight inequality. (Although if Chicago activists succeed in putting a $15 an hour minimum wage hike before city voters, the mayor’s position may be moot).

Still, a headline in the Journal Sentinel caught my attention. Inspired by Bill de Blasio’s plans to fight inequality, Milwaukee school board member Larry Miller had a simple message: “Milwaukee needs a bolder vision.” Competition or no, that's exactly the way America's cities should be inspiring each other.

About the Author

Amy Traub is Senior Policy Analyst at Demos. She is the author of "The Plastic Safety Net: Findings from the 2012 National Survey on Credit Card Debt of Low- And Middle-Income Households," and "Discrediting America: The Urgent Need To Reform The Nation's Credit Reporting Industry," among other reports and research.